Yahoo Finance Here's Why You Should Invest in Global Water Resources (GWRS)
Global Water Resources Inc.’s GWRS investments in infrastructure, expansion of operations through an inorganic route, rising earnings estimates and an increase in water connections are expected to drive its performance in the long run.
Let’s focus on the factors that make this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock a strong investment pick at the moment. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Growth Projection & Surprise History
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Global Water Resources’ 2023 earnings has moved up 4% in the past 60 days to 27 cents per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GWRS’ 2023 total revenues has moved up 11.8% year over year to $50 million.
Global Water Resources delivered an average earnings surprise of 163.3% in the last four quarters.
Long-term EPS Growth and Dividend Yield
Global Water Resources’ long-term (three- to five-year) earnings growth is projected to be 15%.
The current dividend yield of GWRS is 2.32%, better than the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s average yield of 1.78%.
Expanding Operation
Global Water Resources is making significant progress in expanding through organic means, acquisitions, utility rate increases and spreading operations in new service areas. The improving economic conditions in Arizona also created fresh demand.
Since 2017, the company has expanded its operations in the booming Arizona market by acquiring 11 utilities. On Feb 1, 2023, the company completed the acquisition of Farmers Water Co., an operator of a water utility with a service area in Sahuarita, AZ. The acquisition added nearly 3,300 active water connections and 21.5 square miles of service area.
Return on Equity
Return on equity (ROE) indicates how efficiently a company is utilizing shareholders’ funds in the business to generate returns. At present, Global Water Resources’ ROE is 14.79%, higher than the industry average of 9.76%. This indicates that the company is utilizing the funds more effectively than its industry peers.
Price Performance
In the past six months, Global Water Resources’ stock has gained 3.6% against the industry’s 1.9% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks from the same sector are Spire Inc. SR, NiSource NI and Xcel Energy XEL, each currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2.
The long-term earnings growth of Spire, NiSource and Xcel Energy is projected at 4.2%, 6.8% and 6.6%, respectively.
In the past 60 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for NiSource and Xcel Energy’s 2023 earnings has moved up 1.3% and 0.3%, respectively. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Spire’s fiscal 2023 earnings has moved up 1.9% in the past 60 days
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Xcel Energy Inc. (XEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Spire Inc. (SR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Global Water Resources, Inc. (GWRS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
